Regarding a conventional gas hydrate reactor, water from a water supply unit and gas from a gas supply unit are supplied and mixed in a mixing chamber, and the mixture is introduced into the reactor. The reactor generally needs to be maintained at high pressure and low temperature, although the temperature and pressure in the reactor somewhat vary depending on the conditions in which gas hydrate is formed. Herein, the pressure in the reactor is controlled by the supply of gas, and the temperature in the reactor is controlled by controlling the temperature of a water bath. Particularly, the temperature of the water bath needs to be significantly low in order to maintain the reactor at low temperature.
Meanwhile, a stirrer may be used to promote gas hydrate formation, and the formed gas hydrate is stored in a gas hydrate storage unit.
The conventional gas hydrate reactor as described above has the following problems. Specifically, because the conventional gas hydrate reactor is located in a water bath, it is very difficult to accurately and quickly control the temperature of the internal space of the reactor in which gas hydrate is produced. Moreover, because water is filled into the water bath, it is difficult to precisely control the temperature of the water, due to the thermodynamic inertia of the water. Even if the temperature of water in the water bath is precisely controlled, it is difficult to quickly and accurately control the internal temperature of the reactor, because the internal temperature of the reactor is influenced directly by the temperature of the water bath.
In addition, the inside of the reactor needs to be maintained at high temperature depending on the conditions in which gas hydrate is produced, and thus it is not easy to introduce gas into this high-temperature reactor. Additionally, because the rate of reaction between gas and water is low, the rate of production of gas hydrate is low.